Touch, Feel, & Lose
by just.say.you're.not.into.it
Summary: New original characters, new plot, but the same old characters you know and love  Contains Austin Gibbs, The Maine, The Summer Set, and more! Goes along with the other stories
1. Info

**Caroline Jones**

**Age: **22 years old

**Hometown**: Chicago, Illinois

**Currently Residing in**: Phoenix, Arizona

**Random Fact:** went to ASU, but couldn't pay for her last semester so she had to drop out


	2. Call Me On Your Way Back Home

SORRY ITS A SHORT FIRST CHAPTER. IT IS JUST A NICE LITTLE INTRO, AND THE NEXT CHAPTERS WILL BE LONG AND GOOD, I PROMISE. 3

-x-xx-xx-xx-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Here I am, sitting in this lone apartment, smoking a cigarette while watching an infomercial for "_The Greatest Songs Sung By African Americans! 147 songs on 7 disks!_" It was four in the afternoon, and I'm sure that there were actual shows on that I could watch, but the remote was on the other side of the room, and the position I was sitting in was just way too comfortable to mess up.  
>You're probably thinking I'm a very lonely person, sitting in my apartment doing shit by myself when I could be out in the great city of Phoenix, partying like no fucking tomorrow.<br>Well, I did party. That's how I lost all the money I had for college. That's why I'm living in a small apartment that's not even mine.  
>I live with a guy named Joey, but I rarely see him. He's usually over at his boyfriend Darren's house, at In-N-Out, or watching Darren dance at the local gay club…which is where we met about three years ago when I was going through a certain "phase."<p>

I do get to go out sometimes. Joey gives me money every week as long as I keep the place clean, cook for him when he is home, and sometimes watch Darren's cat on nights he isn't home. I would usually catch a cab to and go to this venue called Clubhouse because the owner, Tony, and I met when I was a freshman in college, and he is my best friend. I would watch these bands I've never heard of play and the little teen girls go crazy over them while I sit in the back at the bar and take advantage of the free drinks I received. There would be a few times when some people from these bands would come talk to me, I'd received a few of their numbers, and on a few occasions I received more than that, but I am a really lonely person. I haven't had a boyfriend since I was in the fourth grade, and he left me because he said my face reminded him of a "poopy butt." I've been kind of a flirt since then, but I'm not a whore. I have only had sex once, and it was with Joey. He had to make sure he was gay…and he is.

I took my attention away from the infomercial I was watching to look at my phone, which was vibrating.

"Aiyo, Tony," I answered.

"Caroline Jones, what are you doing tonight?"

"I've got a hot date with a bubble bath. What do you have planned?"

"There's a sweet dude playing here tonight. You need to come."

"Fuck, Tony. I came last night. I'm running low on cab money."

"When have I ever told you to come to watch someone? Usually I just ask you to come drink. This guy is good."

"Moneeeeeeeeey."

"I'll pay for your damn cab, just get ready." *click*

I looked down at what I was already wearing: a cut up tank top, my booty shorts that I usually only wear in the house, and some black slip-ons. I felt at my hair, and it felt like it looked okay. I had just applied my make-up before I sat down, so it shouldn't have been too bad.

"Well, I'm ready," I mumbled as I stood up. And with that, I was on my way to the Clubhouse.

-x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x-

"Welcome back, Caroline! You can come through."

"Thanks, Greg. Drinks later?"

"Always!"

I met Greg the first time I came to the Clubhouse. He was the janitor at the time, but now he's the head security man. We always have drinks after everyone leaves.

I walked through all the teenage girls, who, like usual, give me terrible glances, and walked to the back of the place and took my usual seat: the very first seat closest to the stage by the bar. I kept observing the stage, trying to see who this amazing person that was playing was.

I looked over at the bar tender, Jillian, and asked, "So uh, who is playing tonight?"

"Fuck…what was his name…..something like Boston Hibbs," she replied, handing me a drink.

"What is this?" I asked, studying the liquid in the cup.

"It is Mountain Dew and Vodka. Discovered it today, and I know how much you love the Dew."

"…I _do_ love the dew," I murmured, taking a sip of the deliciousness that was in the cup. "Hooohhh yeah. This is great."

A few minutes past, and you couldn't fit any more people in the already small venue. It was so crowded I couldn't see, so like usual, I sat on top of the bar. Jillian and Tony didn't mind because not a lot of people came to the bar while someone was playing. As soon as I sat back down, the lights dimmed and the screams began. And then, he came out…but I couldn't see. Even on the bar.

"Fuck, these girls are going crazy!" I yelled out loud.

"The dude is sexy," Jillian said behind me.

I sighed to myself and took another swig of my drink. After the crowd calmed down a little bit he began to talk.

"Hi, I'm Austin Gibbs from Phoenix, and, yeah, I'm going to play some stuff."

And then, it was magic. His music was just so…beautiful. I just…  
>Okay, I'm lying. I couldn't even hear him singing because all the girls in the back were either singing so loud, or talking about how "hot" he looks, or some irrelevant shit that no one cared about.<p>

"Jillian, hate to bust out early…but this just isn't worth it," I yelled to her as I got off the bar. I tried to look at the guy again, but I still couldn't see. I shrugged it off and I left.

When I made it outside, I found Tony sitting on the sidewalk in his skinny black jeans, flannel shirt, and his brown hair looking like he didn't fix it when he woke up this morning. He was doing something with some sidewalk chalk.

"What in the hell are you doing?" I asked as I took a seat beside him.

"I am drawing an advertisement for the show tomorrow. I wanted to watch Gibbs perform, but it was too crazy in there, and the girls were too loud. So I came out here," he said, handing me some chalk. "Help me colour in this part."

I started to colour with him. "That is the same reason I came outside…couldn't hear a damn thing."

We kept colouring and talking about the most random things, from past loves to food cravings. Tony was my best friend here, and I was lucky to have met him..otherwise I probaly wouldn't make it in this city.

Before we knew it, people were piling out of the venue and leaving. Luckily by this time, we were done with the ad, and I was already on my second cigarette. Tony and I were standing by a side door, watching everyone exit the place and step all over the masterpiece we just created.

"Wonderful ad, terrible placement," I said to him.

"I see that. Even if I put it somewhere else, none of these people would look at it. They're just looking for Austin…who is over there."

I looked to where he was pointing, but one again, I couldn't see around the circle of females around him.

"Must be one hell of a dude," I mumbled.

We continued to stand there, but we focused our attention away from this mystery man. Greg came out at one point and told me he had to get home, and we would get drinks next time. Eventually, Tony went back inside, but I stayed in the same spot. I lit another cigarette and looked to my side. All I saw was the city view. I loved Phoenix with all my heart. Chicago was great, but I just needed to get away from one city to another.

"I could watch the city all night," a voice said, startling me. I looked over to see an unfamiliar face.

He was tall, had brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a jean jacket and a v-neck that almost went to his belly button, but it showed off a very nice chest. And on his face, there was the ultimate facial hair a man could have: a moustache. I wasn't usually one for facial hair, but Jillian was right…for once.

"It's a real lovely place," I agreed.

He lit up a cigarette and sat down on the sidewalk. I sat beside him.

"My name is Austin Gibbs," he said, holding his hand out for a shake. I took it. He had a firm grip.

"Caroline Jones."

"Nice to meet you…you from around here?"

"I live in Phoenix, but I'm from Chicago."

"You're a long way from home, young lady."

"Yeah, well, I came here for ASU."

"A college girl, eh?"

"Used to be. I dropped out. Spend all my money on alcohol and shit I didn't need."

"Life." He flicked his cigarette out of his hands and looked over at me. He didn't ever say anything… he just looked at me, like he was studying me.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked.

"Give me your number."

"Excuse...me?"

"Look here, Ms. Caroline Jones…right now would be the time where I would stare you in the eyes, making you melt on the inside. Then I would say something like, 'You look amazing, but there is one thing you could be wearing that is even better.' And you would bat your long eyelashes at me and answer with a high pitched voice, 'Teehee, what's that?' And I would come in close and whisper in your ear, 'Nothing.' Then I would take you to the back of my sweet van, and we would undress each other slowly, but sexily, and then we would progress into the best sex you have ever had with a man. But I respect you, Caroline Jones, and I would like to get to know you better. Is that too much to ask?"

He held a sharpie in his hand and handed it to me.

"Mr. Gibbs…you have a way with words." I took the sharpie and wrote my number on his palm. "Next time you're in town, maybe we can do something."

"Gibbs! We've got to go man!" someone yelled from his 'sweet' van. We both stood up and looked at each other.

"Well, Caroline, I wish I could stay and chat but, you know, I'm a travelin' man."

"You coming back anytime soon?"

"I'll be back in about a week. Don't wait up for me, sweetie."

"Didn't plan on it, hot stuff."

He winked at me and walked to his van. I just stood there, watching him drive off, wondering what I had just gotten myself into.


	3. We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands

It has been two weeks since Austin said he was coming back from tour. I have received plenty of calls, text, and emails from boys I've met at the Clubhouse, but none have been from the man I've wanted to hear from. I figured after the first week he was just getting settled back into his homestead, but Tony said he witnessed Austin leaving the local bar with a lady on each arm. That is when I decided that this was a lost cause, and, once again, I received the shaft with something I thought was going to turn out to be a good thing. I've stopped thinking about that night … sort of. I've been occupied every day, whether it is helping Tony at the venue or grocery shopping for Joey and Darren. The only time I am at home is to sleep. If I was there for anything else, I would think, and thinking is bad at this point.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"You know, you really should get a job or something," Tony said to me as he was sweeping the bar area of the venue.

"I might as well work here. I'm here all the damn time helping you clean the residue of all the teenies," I replied as I lit a cigarette.

"One, ew. Two, you don't get paid ... Why are you smoking in here? You know I hate that."

"You have an ash tray right here. This _is_ a bar that allows smoking. Anyways, I don't need your dirty money … I just like your company."

He let out a small laugh. "Stop getting soft on me and clean something."

I put my cigarette out, grabbed a broom, and headed toward the stage. A band played the night before and decided that part of their set would be some huge on-stage party, and all the punk-ass kids decided to throw all their fucking trash on stage instead of in the trash can two feet away.

Tony walked over to the stereo system that was hooked up to the main speakers of the area.

"Anything you want to hear as we make this place spotless?" he asked me.

"Uh…..Hall and Oates!" I replied, doing a little jig.

"Fuck….alright. Just for today," he sighed as he put on a Greatest Hits disk.

I was in the zone sweeping that shit up. I was singing some "Kiss on my list" so loud you could hear me a million miles away. In fact, I was singing so loud, I didn't notice when one of Tony's friends entered the room. I only noticed when I looked over and saw Tony exchanging a bro hug with him. He was a guy much taller than him, had short brown hair, and seemed to have his mouth open a lot. I wasn't going to worry about it and just keep sweeping and singing, but Tony yelled at me.

"Caroooooline! Come here!"

I sighed to myself, put down my broom, and walked over to them. I studied the other guy before Tony introduced us. He had big, brown eyes and you could see his collar bones sticking out of his slightly unbuttoned flannel shirt.

"Caroline Jones, this is Halvo."

He flashed a grin at me. "Or Eric, but it is nice to finally meet you."

"You've heard of me?"

"Yeah, I, uh, have a friend who has played here. He's talked about you before."

I tried thinking about who that could have been, but I've met a lot of people here, so I just let it be. "Oh. Well, nice to meet you. If you'll excuse me, I've got to finish cleaning the stage for tonight."

I turned around and started to walk away. Eric caught up with me. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I don't…really think so. All I need to do is sweep…and mop…and wipe shit down. I'll be done in about an hour. No big deal."

"Well, Tony and I were going to meet up with the rest of the guys for lunch in about an hour if you want to join us."

"The rest of the guys?"

"The guys in my band?"

Fuck, another band guy. Do I really want to go to lunch and take a chance with another musical shit head after what just happened to me?

I opened my mouth to tell him no thank you, but then I happened to glance at those damn collar bones again. "Okay, I'm down." That isn't what I wanted to say.

"Cool…I guess I'll have Tony text you and tell you where we are. See you then."

-x-x-x-x-x

An hour passed, and I wasn't even done cleaning up the shit on the stage. But I had received a text from Mr. Collar Bones saying him, Tony, and his band mates were waiting at Chipotle. So that is where I headed.

When I got there, everyone already had food in front of them, and they were all halfway done. Cool. Eric eyed me and waved at me, which made everyone else eye me. I made my way over to their table feeling very awkward, but I've been in worse situations. I sat down beside Tony and a guy who had the perfect beard on his face.

"Okay, this is _the_ Caroline, everyone," Eric said. Everyone had a look of "Oh!' oh their face when he said that. Why am I known as that? Whatever, I wasn't going to ask right now in front of everyone.

He started pointing around. "This is Justin, Nick, and Andrew."

"We're playing at the Clubhouse tonight," Andrew, Mr. Beard Man, said to me.

"Oh. Sounds…cool," I murmured. I was thinking very hard about what these guys could know about me. Could it have gotten out that in the sixth grade I accidently peed myself after a classmate scared me on the bus? Is it just my history with alcohol and boys? Whatever.

"Are you going to be there tonight?" Nick asked. I eyed him down and noticed a few things. He styled his hair like he wanted to be the next ginger Elvis, he was a tattoo man, and someone liked it, so they put a ring on him. Damn.

"I…suppose," I replied, fiddling with my hair. I've never felt so awkward with people before. Of course, I've never been known as "_the_ Caroline" before. This was seriously bugging me out.

Justin looked at Eric and tried to say without me knowing, "She isn't as … out going as I thought she would be."

But I heard. I also heard Halvo reply, "I know. Boooring."

I slammed my hands on the table. "Okay. Seriously? I am right here. What the hell is it about me that you all know? Is it that I peed myself one time? Or that I like to get drunk and make out with boys and sometimes girls? Or that the only time I've had sex is with a man who was actually gay? I mean, come on!"

Everyone in the store was looking at me. Tony and the other guys were staring at me in a "what the fuck" kind of way. I slowly sunk down in my seat enough to where only the guys at my table could see me.

"Uh….n…no. We didn't know any of that about you," Eric said. "We heard about you from Austin."

I perked up. "…Austin?"

"Yeah. Gibbs."

They all kept talking, but I just stared down at my food and zoned out from them. I didn't really know what to think. He had talked about me to his friends, but he didn't call me? What did he say about me to make me "_the _Caroline"? Why couldn't that bastard just call me?

"Caroline….Caroline?"

I shook my head and looked back up. "Huh?"

"Are you alright?" Tony asked.

"I…uh…I'm going to go back to the venue. I didn't finish cleaning." I stood up and started walking away.

"See you tonight?" Eric asked right before I walked out the door. I turned around and looked at all of them. Each one of them looked normal. None of them knew what they just did to me besides Tony. And I'm sure he wasn't going to talk about it around his "bros."

"Sure," I replied. I then turned back around, exited the restaurant, and walked back toward the venue.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After another hour of wiping down nasty shit, I was finally done cleaning. Tony and the other guys weren't back yet, but there were already a lot of female teens were waiting in line. Before I walked outside, I looked down at what I was wearing: a grey sweater that was way too big for me so it fit like a dress, black leggings that were ripped in so many places because they were old and worn out, and cowboy boots that belonged to my mother that my grandfather gave to me after she passed. They were the only thing that I got, but that is a different story. I was sure the moment I walked outside I would receive many awful glances from the girls. As I exited the venue, my accusations were correct.

"Look at her. She looks like a whore."

"She's probably just here to try and sleep with the guys."

"Put on some clothes, slut!"

I just sighed to myself and sat down in the designated smoke area. As I lit a cigarette, I heard all the girls scream. I figured one of the guys was spotted. I wanted to ignore it, but then I felt someone walk up behind me. I looked to see Eric standing there.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Uh…..you want a cigarette?" I asked, standing up.

"No … I would just like to talk," he replied. "Maybe we could go around back?"

Before I could say anything, a few girls came up and bombarded him.

"Can we get a picture? Or are….you busy?" one of them ask, glaring at me.

I laughed and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Around back."

As I walked away, I could hear the girls talking shit again, but I just laughed to myself and continued on with my cigarette. When I got to the back, I was welcomed by Tony, Andy, and some other guy I wasn't familiar with, but he was a smoker, which already made me like him. He was a ginger and had a beard, and with his black and red flannel shirt, he looked like a lumberjack. But that was okay.

"Hey Caroline," Andy greeted. Tony just waved at me.

"Hi guys. And you are…" I said, pointing to Mr. Lumberjack.

"My name is Jared," he replied, holding his hand out for me to shake, so I did.

"Hi. Are you playing tonight, too?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm just friends with the guys. "

Finally, a guy who isn't in a band! I thought to myself.

"He _is_ in a band, though," Tony threw at me. Fuck it. "They are playing here in a few weeks. The Maine."

"Ah. I'm sure I'll be here for that," I said, flicking my cigarette out.

We spent the next ten minutes talking to each other about music, video games, and food. I had forgotten why I was back there in the first place.

"Yeah, and to wake him up, I put my dick in his face, and –" he stopped and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. "Sorry guys, it's my lady. I need to take this." He walked off and it was just Tony and I left.

"Damn, he's taken. He was a cool guy," I shrugged. Tony let out a laugh.

"They've been together for a long time. They're perfect … so, is there a reason you came back here?"

Oh yeah. "Uh, Halvo wanted to talk and told me he'd meet me back here…but it's been like, ten minutes." As soon as I said that, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I opened it up and took a gander at what it said:

_Poop shit dick ass._

"What the fuck?" I asked out loud. I showed the text to Tony.

"Well, it's from Eric. At least you know he isn't dead." My phone received another text:

_Holy shit, that wasn't meant for you. Sorry. Anyways, I was on my way back there but I just kept getting asked for pictures and shit. Please meet me at the bar?_

"This sounds better than the first one." I looked over at Tony. "He wants me to meet him at the bar. I guess that's where I'm going."

Tony nodded and looked at his watch. "There's only an hour left until the doors open. I guess I'll go tell the teenies and give them the rules….even though no one ever listens."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"When I called you boring earlier, I didn't mean it. I don't know why I said that. Spur of the moment, I guess," Eric said to me as he sipped on his drink. He, Jillian, and I were the only ones in the area. He didn't want to talk with her there, but I told him I'd probably tell her anyways because she loves to hear about my life. I owe her that since she makes me free drinks all the time. I was drinking one at that time, a mixture of Sunny D and vodka. Delicious.

"It's…okay, I suppose. I have been called much, much, much worse."

"I also didn't mean to ….call you "_the_ Caroline." I didn't know you'd get mad about it. I didn't want that to happen."

"Believe me, I didn't want to get that mad. I just…felt weird. Like you guys knew some super-secret about me that I didn't even know. It was like, if the first thing I said to you was, 'Oh, _you're_ the Eric everyone talks about…..', you know?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I just … Tony told me about … can I say his name?"

I nodded. I wanted to see where this went.

"Tony told me about Austin, and how he never called, and how down you were. So I didn't want the first thing I said to you be 'Oh hey, you're the girl Gibbs talked about!' I didn't want to make you upset the first time we met. Bad first impressions really suck."

I nodded again. "I guess I understand that." I took a big gulp of my drink. "Can I ask you what he said about me?"

He looked down at the counter for a few seconds before saying anything. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay," I replied, finishing off my drink. I looked over at Jillian, who was already making me another one.

"The day he came home, we went out for drinks, like we always do. He told me about a girl he would meet each night, and how he either got lucky or he didn't. But when he started talking about the Phoenix date of the tour … his attitude changed. He went from this cocky shit head to a more sensitive Gibbs I've never really seen before. 'Something about the way she would look at me,' he said. He told me that after that show, he wouldn't even think about the girls who wanted to do him. He was very interested in you."

I placed my forehead into my hand. I was very confused.

"If he …. If… why didn't he call?"

"Can I have some more, please?" Eric said to Jillian before looking over at me to continue his story. "I told him, 'Call her, man. You've never talked about a woman like this before.' He took out his phone about twenty times, but he just couldn't do it. He said that you were just … so innocent … that you didn't want to get tangled up in his past, or the way he is now. He felt like he would ruin you."

"I….fuck…" I put my head on the counter of the bar. I felt like crying. "I really thought this would turn into something good for me. But of course not. I always get shit on."

Eric put his hand on my knee, which made me look up at him.

"If you've been shit on a lot that means you're going to be a strong person. You look like you're a strong person. You're a nice, cool, and pretty lady. You'll find a guy who won't shit on you. … Well, you know what I mean."

I laughed and shook my hair with my hand. "Thanks, man."

"Eric! They're going to open the doors in like, five minutes, so come back here!" Justin yelled from some other room.

"I'll see you after the show," Halvo said, ruffling the top of my hair which I just fixed.

As he walked away, I went ahead and took my usual spot: sitting Indian style on top of the bar. Hopefully I could hear and see the guys perform this time.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As the girls piled in, I was downing down the drinks. Jillian kept making up new concoctions that she wanted me to try, and I really had a hard time saying no to free drinks. After a few minutes, the lights finally dimmed, the screams erupted, and surprisingly, I could see the guys walk on stage.

"Hey Phoenix, we're A Rocket to the Moon, and we're going to have a fun time tonight!"

They started playing, and they were actually alright. I even danced a little while I was seated on the bar. Even Jillian was dancing with me at one point. We were having a great time, but before we knew it, the show was coming to an end.

"Thank you everyone for coming out tonight. We'll be hanging out outside, so come and say hello!"

And with that, the guys exited the stage, and all the girls left to go outside. Soon all that was left in the room were me, Jillian, and Tony. Tony was doing some sweeping, Jillian was finishing up cleaning her area, and I was ….just there. I lit up a cigarette and hopped of the bar.

"What'd you think, Caroline?" Tony asked me.

"That…that was cool. I danced, Jillian danced, we danced. We danced."

Tony gave me an odd look, and then glanced over at Jillian. "How much has she had to drink?"

She let out a small giggle. "I was in an innovating mood tonight, so…"

Tony sighed and sat down. "Damnit, Caroline. I'm not letting you walk home like this. You're staying with me tonight."

I then proceeded to clap my hands like a seal. "Yaaaaay, sleepover at Tony's! Is Jillian coming? I love her."

"Not this time, Caroline….Sorry Jillian."

"Maybe next time!" she chirped. She put up one last glass and did a little jig. "All done! I'll see you cats later."

She then left, leaving Tony by himself with me. I don't like to stand still while I'm drunk, so I just kept skipping around Tony in a circle while he swept. He finally stopped and grabbed me by the hand.

"Okay, I'm taking you home." He started to drag me out of the building.

"I'm not ready to leave! We haven't seen the wizard yet!"

"The wizard is at my house. We will see him there."

"Yessss."

He kept dragging me through all the girls to get to his car, and we ended up passing by Eric. He decided to stop us by grabbing on to my other hand, which made the girls waiting to meet him, again, give me death glares.

"You guys leaving already?" he asked, still holding on to my hand.

"She isn't fit to stay here right now," Tony replied, trying to tug me along. "I'm taking her to my house."

Eric just stood there, still having a grip on me, with a thinking face on. He then spoke. "I'll take her home. You need to stay here and watch the place."

All the girls had something to say about that. "Seriously?" "No, don't leave!" "What a whore."

"You're all just jeeellllllyyyy!" I screamed at them. Tony handed Eric the keys to his car.

"I'll hitch a ride home. You just need to get her out of here before she has to go to jail for beating up all these kids."

Halvo nodded and took me to Tony's car. When we both were in the car, he looked over at me.

"Why are you so drunk?"

"I like to drink. You have to drink to stay hydrated."

He just laughed and began driving.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-

When we got to Tony's house, it took Eric about five minutes to get me inside because I kept throwing up all over his lawn. Oops.

When we finally got inside, he laid me down on the couch and he sat down on the floor in front of me. I was feeling like shit. I'm pretty sure I threw up all the drunk I had with me on Tony's front lawn.

"Eric…." I managed to say to him.

"Yeah?"

"Pet my head like a dog."

"Uh…what?"

I chuckled. "Whenever I'm sick, my mom used to rub my head and I always felt better."

He shrugged and began rubbing my head. "How is your mom?"

"She…uh…well, she passed away when I was 17."

"Oh…we don't have to talk about it," he said.

"No," I murmured as I sat up. "I think I'm ready to talk about it. Sit beside me." He got up and took the seat next to me. I put my head on his shoulder and he continued to rub my head.

"Well, I'm ready to listen."

The next forty-five minutes, I told this guy that I just met that afternoon my whole life story, and unlike the other guys I tried to tell, he actually listened. He was genuinely interested. I told him about how after my mom died, I made a bunch of shitty decisions. My reputation in my Chicago neighborhood was ruined, and I felt like the only way I could renew myself was to move far away. I honestly put a bunch of cities in a hat and picked one at random. That is how I ended up going to ASU. But of course, I fucked all of that up, too. And I told him all about it.

"Do you think differently of me after I told you all of this?" I asked him. I could feel him shake his head.

"We all make shitty decisions, but the past is the past. All you can do is learn from it," he told me.

"Thank you for saying that. Usually when I tell people this stuff, I get a mix of replies. From girls, it's something like, 'Oh…well you're trashy.' From guys, it's like… 'Sorry, let's go have sex.' It is nice to finally have a guy I can talk to who cares, and just doesn't want to penetrate me."

He laughed at me. "I care too much about you now to want to do that."

"You've known me for one day. Why do you care about me so much?"

"You have trusted me with your problems all day. How could I not care about you? He looked at a clock on the wall. "Shit, man. It's two-thirty. Bus call is in 15 minutes…I need to get going. It's a ten minute walk."

We both stood up at the same time. "Thank you for listening to me talk, Eric. I really needed to vent."

"Anytime you want to talk, just call me up."

As we embraced each other in a very friendly hug, the front door opened. We didn't let go, we just both looked over. What we saw made us both go speechless.

"Hel-…what the fuck are you doing with my woman?"


End file.
